I had such a great time recording episode 8 of The Heartographer Podcast, with my very special guest Matthew Baldwin! He’s sometimes better known as Defective Yeti, and he’s been a funny guy on the Internet since most of you guys knew what the word blog meant. (Myself included.) Matthew was good enough to make time to chat with me about all sorts of things, from how to be funny online to how to meet your wife in college. (Hint: go to Costa Rica with a small close-knit group.)
Even though Matthew has been married since well before the rise of online dating, he had some real gems to share about online interactions vs. real life ones, about how being funny on the Internet is often far more constructed than it appears, and how most of us are still pretty darn awkward in person (which is OK, by the way!). It was an absolute joy to chat with him, and I hope you enjoy the episode! Oh, and fun fact I forgot to mention during recording: Matthew is famous and fancy enough to have been interviewed on Actual Public Radio multiple times, but was totally unaccustomed to what tech setup he’d need for a regular old on-the-cheap podcast. How charming is that? (A: Incredibly.)
Here are more charming details, in case you were curious:
This is my favorite picture of Matthew, partly because Grant took it totally on accident which is hilarious to me, and partly because of how totally awkward it is. Grant and I were shooting a little selfie of us at the Game Changers show last year, and I realized only afterwards that Matthew was looking up in what looks like concerned confusion here, haha. (I don’t think he was all that concerned or confused in reality, but it’s a great expression, right? And yes, GREAT photo annotation on my part, I know.)
And then of course, there’s this very stupid Twitter exchange, which still delights both me and Matthew to this day. (Yes I used to be @loveb_ug shut up we don’t talk about those Dark Days):
My tweet: “Winter is yumming. #GameOfScones“. @loveb_ug’s reply: “When you bake a tray of scones, use wheat or use rye.” Nice. (#FF, 5/5)
— Matthew Baldwin (@matthewbaldwin) April 13, 2012
And in case you were wondering what I was alluding to in my stupid Twitter baking joke, it’s this:
Couldn’t help myself. So anyway, lovebirds, please give this episode a listen! Even though it’s a somewhat unexpected guest with unexpected conversation topics, I think we wound up dredging up a lot of interesting little details and tips that help people be their real selves, both online and off, while managing to come off as that much more attractive and approachable. At least, that’s the hope. 🙂
If you’d like to discover some more Matthew Baldwin gems, here are a few of the best ways to do that, in my opinion:
1) Check out his Favstar. You’ll get why I was so dang stoked to get to podcast with him.
2) Read his piece responding to the whole Mike Daisey controversy.
3) Read his piece on spoilers in The Morning News.
4) Check out his blog’s favorite posts link. Oldies but goodies!
Enjoy! [icon-heart]
Comments 7
So cool! I’ve been reading DY for years, I’ll listen to this for sure
Yaaay! How did you stumble upon his site? I love how internet infamy works. 🙂
I honestly forget- it was in my rotation of the time- DY, Mr.Sun, LittleYellowDifferent…
Nice! You’re introducing me to new old humor after the fact, haha. I think he was listed in the blogroll (remember those?) of Lore J. Sjoberg’s site. I also found Questionable Content that way.
I love him! Been following his blog for years because of my love of board games, but have been following him on twitter for awhile and he cracks me up every day! 🙂
@askvirginia @matthewbaldwin I was raised that if someone enters a room confidently their solar plexus is exposed & that’s when to strike.
@askvirginia @matthewbaldwin (KIdding, of course. I wasn’t raised.)